Yohnatan Elizarov

Yohnatan Elizarov (born; 12 February 2003) is a Canadian pair skater. With his skating partner, Ava Kemp, he is the 2026 World Junior champion, 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, four-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist, and two-time Canadian junior champion (2024-25).

Kemp/Elizarov are the first Canadian pairs team to win the World Junior Championships since Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini in 1978.^[1]

Elizarov was born in Haifa, Israel in 2003 to his parents German and Elena. His mother, Elena, had skated in Russia as a child until moving to Israel.^[2] He has two younger brothers, Sean and Jamie.^[3]

The family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2009, when Elizarov was five years old.^[3]

Elizarov attended high school at Vincent Massey Secondary School, where he graduated in 2021.^[3] He is currently a computer science student at the University of Manitoba.^[3][4]

Elizarov began skating at 6 years old after his mother enrolled him in CanSkate.^[2] Elizarov first began skating in men's singles, qualifying for the 2022 Canadian Junior Championships and placing ninth. That same season, Elizarov formed a partnership with Ava Kemp and won the 2022 Canadian Novice title.^[5]

Kemp/Elizarov made their junior international debut at the 2022 JGP Latvia, winning the silver medal. After the event, Elizarov stated “It’s very hard to believe. I think we had like 15 points in total over our personal best. It was a great, great competition.”^[6] At their second Junior Grand Prix event, 2022 JGP Poland II, they placed fifth, qualifying the team for the 2022-23 Junior Grand Prix Final. However, Kemp/Elizarov later withdrew from the event after an injury from Kemp.^[7]

At the 2023 Canadian Junior Championships, Kemp/Elizarov placed second in the short program and third in the free skate, finishing second overall.^[5] Afterwards, the team was named to the 2023 World Junior Championships team. At the World Junior Championships, they placed sixth with a score of 149.03, an almost twenty-point improvement over their previous personal best score.^[5] Shortly after the competition, Elizarov suffered a sudden lung collapse which required surgery. Additionally, Kemp suffered from a back injury, delaying their training for the next season.^[8]

Kemp/Elizarov competed twice on the 2023–24 ISU Junior Grand Prix series, placing fourth at the 2023 JGP Hungary and first at the 2023 JGP Poland.^[5] With these results, Kemp/Elizarov qualified for the 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix Final. There, Kemp/Elizarov finished second overall and earned personal best scores in all segments.^[5]

At the 2024 Canadian Junior Championships, Kemp/Elizarov earned their first junior national title, beating the second placed team by over 15 points.^[5] The team subsequently competed at the 2024 World Junior Championships and placed 6th after falling three times in the free skate.^[8]

Kemp/Elizarov missed the 2024-25 ISU Junior Grand Prix series due to a back injury from Kemp.^[9] Returning from injury in December, Kemp/Elizarov competed at the 2024-25 Skate Canada Challenge, the qualifying competition for the Canadian National Championships. Afterwards, Kemp shared “The last couple of months, it’s just been a really slow build, slowly adding elements back in. We’re pretty much training all the elements in practice.”^[10] At the 2025 Canadian Junior Championships, Kemp/Elizarov successfully defended their title. The pair then competed at the 2025 Bavairan Open, where they won the competition and earned the minimum technical score needed to compete at the 2025 World Junior Championships. At the World Junior Championships, Kemp/Elizarov placed 10th.^[5]

Kemp/Elizarov won gold at both the 2025 JGP Latvia and 2025 JGP Turkey, setting personal best scores at both competitions.^[5] As a result, the pair qualified for the 2025-26 Junior Grand Prix Final.

The pair made their senior international debut at the 2025 Ice Challenge, where they finished third and earned the technical minimum scores required to compete at both the Four Continents Championships and World Championships.^[5]

At the Junior Grand Prix Final, the pair placed third in the short program and fourth in the free skate, ultimately finishing third. "We’re disappointed with our free skate today... Still, we made it onto the podium, so it’s encouraging to win the bronze medal,” Kemp stated afterwards.^[11]

Kemp/Elizarov elected to compete at the senior level at the 2026 Canadian National Championships, placing fourth overall. As a result, the team was named to Canada's 2026 Four Continents Championships team. At the Four Continents Championships, Kemp/Elizarov placed 8th. Speaking on their experience at the competition, Elizarov stated “The short program didn’t go as planned because my boot actually broke during the six-minute warm-up, so I didn’t really go for the salchow during the short program... It was a big learning experience for everything that is to come, also for situations when things don’t go to plan.”^[12]

Kemp/Elizarov ended their season at the 2026 World Junior Championships. Second in the short program and first in the free skate, Kemp/Elizarov ultimately win the title, becoming the first Canadian pairs team to win the World Junior Championships since Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini in 1978.^[1] On their achievement, Kemp stated “I think that means everything to us, because Barbara and Paul—we actually met them last year. They used to skate or train in the same club, and they came to our ice show and watched us, and we talked with them a bit. Also, our choreographer Sandra (Bezic) worked with them, and we have one move in our long program that is for them, so it actually means a lot.”^[13]

• Ava KEMP/Yohnatan ELIZAROV at the International Skating Union